Gary Lineker has recommended Leicester City take a gamble on their next managerial option after Steve Cooper was dismissed on Sunday.
He was appointed as Enzo Maresca’s replacement in the summer after the Italian joined Chelsea but, after a run of four games without a win, was poetically sacked the day after Leicester lost 2-1 at home to Maresca’s side.
Cooper took charge of just 15 games with the the Foxes, winning three – a woeful 20 per cent win rate.
Lineker revealed that he’d like to see former England interim boss Lee Carlsey land a role at the newly promoted Premier League side.
Carsley returned to his head coaching duties with England’s Under-21s after his final game with the senior squad against Ireland last week, which ended in a 5-0 victory for the Three Lions.
Thomas Tuchel will succeed him at the helm in January 2025, after signing an 18-month contract with England in October.
Gary Lineker recommended Leicester City take a punt with England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley
The 50-year-old won five out of his six games with the senior side during his short interim stint
Steve Cooper was sacked by Leicester, who are winless in four and languish 16th in the table
The Match of the Day host admitted that hiring Carsley would be a bit of a ‘punt’, but highlighted the 50-year-old’s success in his short stint with England and how positively the players reacted to his management technique.
‘I would go with Lee Carsley, I think he has something,’ Lineker told The Rest Is Football podcast.
‘There is a little bit of a reluctance in the Premier League, with possible exceptions – Brentford and Brighton – to bring in young managers who they think have something about them.
‘The coaching ability is there and then you take a bit of a punt. It’s difficult for a club which is going to be fighting relegation.
‘It would be a tough first managerial job for someone like Carsley, but the way England players responded to him you could tell they respected him as a coach and they thought he had good ideas. I thought he was really imaginative and brave.’
